Physics 23 Fall 1993

Lab 2 - Adiabatic Processes

Theory

This laboratory is a study of the adiabatic expansion of three gases: helium, air, and carbon
dioxide. The experiments are carried out at a pressure of approximately one atmosphere and at
room temperature (~ 295˚ K). Under these conditions the gases are close to ideal in behavior,
and so the theoretical values of the various quantities to be measured will be those of an ideal
gas.

An adiabatic process is one that takes place so rapidly that no heat transfer takes place
between the surroundings and the system, or within the system. Two types of adiabatic
processes are examined. In one, a container is filled to a slight overpressure with a gas, and then
a stopper is popped so as to make the gas decompress quickly. In the other, a ball is bounced on
a cushion of gas, alternately compressing and expanding it without allowing heat transfer to take
place.

An ideal gas is a collection of point particles that are non-interacting (except for momentary
collisions). The translation kinetic energy of the particles is related to the temperature by the
equation

1 mv 2 = 3 kT
2 2

where k is Boltzmann's constant, 1.38 x 10-16 erg/deg . If the gas is made up of diatomic or tri-
atomic molecules, there will also be a rotational part to the kinetic energy. The amount of any
gas is given by the number of moles n , one mole being 6.023 x 1023 particles. The pressure
inside a container of gas is determined by the number of moles, the temperature, and the volume
of the container. They are related by the equation of state of an ideal gas

pV = nRT .
The specific heat of a gas is the heat energy added to the gas per degree of temperature rise.
The value of the specific heat depends on the condition under which the heat is added. If the
heat is added at constant volume the heat energy goes entirely into increasing the internal kinetic
energy of the particles. If the heat is added at constant pressure, the gas can expand while the
heat is added and the gas does work on the expanding walls of the container. Consequently, the
specific heat at constant pressure (Cp) is greater than the specific heat at constant volume (Cv).
As derived in section 20.5 of Ohanian, the two are related by
 Cp = Cv + R .
By applying the first law of thermodynamics and using the adiabatic condition of zero heat
transfer, it can be shown (see the appendix at the end of this writeup or section 20.6 of Ohanian)
that the pressure and volume of an ideal gas obey the equation (called the adiabatic law)

pV γ = constant

during an adiabatic process. The exponent γ is the ration of the specific heats, Cp / Cv .

The experimentally measured values of the two specific heats and the ratio γ , can be
explained from a simple theoretical model and calculation. The principle of equipartition of
energy is invoked to assign (1/2)RT per mole per degree of freedom to the internal energy.
Since

dQ
Cv = = dU
dT constant volume dT
(because no work is done at constant volume), we would expect to have Cv = (1/2)R per mol
per degree of freedom.

The number of degrees of freedom and the value of Cv depend on the complexity of the
internal energy of the gas. A monatomic gas can only move with three translational degrees of
freedom, so Cv = (3/2)R . A diatomic gas (dumbbells) can move with the same three
translational modes and can rotate in two dimensions as well; therefore, in this case Cv = (5/2)R
. A triatomic gas can rotate in three dimensions, so Cv = 3R . Therefore, the values of Cp for
the three cases are (5/2)R , (7/2)R , and 4R ; and the values of γ from this simple theory are
1.67 , 1.4 , and 1.33 respectively. Actual experimental values of γ for helium, air, and carbon
dioxide are:

He 1.67
Air 1.40
CO2 1.30

The Method of Clement and Desormes

A simple and straightforward method of measuring was developed in the 19th century by
Clement and Desormes. A container of gas is pressurized slightly above atmospheric pressure
and allowed to come to equilibrium temperature with the surroundings. Then a stopper is
popped momentarily to decompress the gas to one atmosphere. The gas cools during this
expansion. The temperature immediately after decompression can be calculated by combining
the ideal gas law with the adiabatic law. Let p1 be the pressure before decompression, po the
atmospheric pressure, Vc the volume of the container, V the volume of the expanded gas, To
the room temperature, and T the temperature after decompression. We have

p1Vγc = poVγ , p1Vc = nRTo , poV = nRT

which can be combined to give

p1-γ γ 1-γ γ
1 To = po T

or
1-γ
To = po γ .
T p1

After decompression, the gas warms up until the final temperature is again To and the pressure
is p2 , with p2 > po but p2 < p1 . From the ideal gas equation (n and V are constant), we
have poTo = p2T , so that

T = p
To po
and therefore
γ-1
p2 p1 γ
po = po .

In the experiment the pressures p1 and p2 are only slightly greater than po: p1 = po +
Δp1, p2 = po + Δp2 , so the above equation can be written

Δp γ Δp γ-1
1 + p2 = 1 + p1 .
o o

Since the term on the right in the bracket on each side is much less than 1, we can apply the bino-
mial expansion to get

Δp2 Δp1
1 +γ = 1 + γ -1
po po

with the final result

 Δp1
γ = . (1)
Δp1 - Δp2

Despite the algebraic gymnastics needed to arrive at this equation, the expression is simple
and it can be applied easily in the experiment. An oil manometer is used to read Δp1 (the
pressure before the cork is popped) and Δp2 (the pressure the gas comes to when back at room
temperature) directly.

Ruchardt's Method

Another more sophisticated method of measuring γ was developed by Ruchardt. A

container of gas has a long glass tube emerging from the top. A ball bearing, exactly fitting the
precision glass tube, is dropped into it. The ball bounces on the gas below, compressing it
adiabatically on the downswing and letting it expand adiabatically on the upswing. The period
of the oscillations of the bouncing ball is directly related to the γ of the gas and the geometry of
the system.

Let V be the enclosed volume, po the atmospheric pressure, m the mass of the ball, and A
the cross-sectional area of the tube. The pressure in the container will be p = po + mg/A . If
the ball is stationary, mg = A(p - po) . If the ball is pressed down a distance dx , compressing
the gas adiabatically, the volume change of the gas will be dV = Adx . The pressure rise will be

dp
dp = dV .
dV
Since pVγ = C (a constant) for an adiabatic process,

dp -γ
= d Cγ = γ + 1 pV γ ;
dV dV V V
therefore, dp = -γ (p/V)Adx , and the force on the ball will be

p 2
dF = A dp = -γ A dx .
V
This is the equation obeyed by a mass on a spring with a force constant

γ pA 2
k = .
V
The period of oscillation is given by T = 2π(m/k)1/2 so that

4π 2m γ pA 2
k = 2 = .
T V

Thus, we can calculate the γ of the gas from the period of oscillation of the ball

2
γ = 4π 2mV2 . (2)
pA T

The derivation of this equation makes use of one of the most universal principles in
mechanics: when an object experiences a restoring force proportional to the displacement, the
resulting motion is simple harmonic. This point is explained in more detail in Chapter 14 of the
Ohanian.

References

The following are the sections in the texts which are pertinent to this lab. They should be
read before coming to lab.

1. Ohanian's Physics Chapter 19

2. Ohanian's Physics Chapter 20 sections 20.1 - 20.3, 20.5 - 20.6
3. Ohanian's Physics Chapter 21 section 21.1
4. Tipler's Modern Physics Chapter 2

Experimental Purpose

The purpose of this lab is to experimentally measure the ratio of specific heats for helium, air
and carbon dioxide using two methods: (1) the method of Clement and Desormes and (2) the
method of Ruchardt. In the first method, the ratio of specific heats will be computed from the
expression
Δp1
γ = .
Δp1 - Δp2

In the second method the ratio of specific heats will be computed from the expression
 2
γ = 4π 2mV2 .
pA T
In both cases, the experimentally measured values will be compared to the theoretically
predicted values.

Procedure

The main piece of apparatus is an 8 liter stainless steel can with a brass lid with a hole in it
soldered on. The can has two ports with valves for evacuating it or filling it with gas, a dial
pressure gauge, and a rubber stopper. There is also an oil manometer for measuring pressures, a
vacuum pump, gas cylinders, balloons, and an attachment for measuring γ by Ruchardt's
method. A schematic diagram of the apparatus is shown on the next page. Before beginning a
few comments on the use of the equipment is necessary.

a. The values on the can ports are open when the black valve stem is pointing straight out
from the valve. They are closed when they are at right angles to the straight out position.

b. When evacuating the cans, the cans often make banging noises as the sides of the cans
adjust to the pressure differences. This is normal, but may be alarming if you are not
expecting it.

c. The volume of the cans are nominally 8 liters. The actual volume of the can is stamped
somewhere on the top of the brass lid.

d. Only use the oil manometers for can pressures near one atmosphere. Failure to do so
may cause the oil to either be sucked into the can or be blown out the other end of the
manometer.

e. Please use extreme care when handling the precision glass tubing used with Ruchardt's
method. Each of the tubes cost $125.00 and must be imported from Germany. Also,
please take special care of the magnet used to hold the ball at the top of the tube. It is
easily misplaced and it also is difficult to replace. Except when releasing the ball, please
keep it in
 the top of the glass tube.

f. Any dust entering the precision glass tubing will cause deterioration of the performance
of the apparatus. Should the ball begin to stick in the tube rather than oscillating,
cleaning it with ethyl alcohol will help the situation. If your tube needs to be cleaned,
see your TA.

Part I - The Method of Clement and Desormes

1. Attach a balloon to one of the ports and a vacuum pump to the other. Make sure there is a
rubber stopper in the hole in the top of the can. Open both valves on the can, turn on the
vacuum pump and evacuate the can. When the can is completely evacuated, close the valve
attached to the vacuum pump and then shut off and detach the vacuum pump from the can.
Attach the compressed air line to the port to which the vacuum pump was connected. Open
the valve on the can connected to the air line and then slowly turn on the compressed air and
admit enough air to the can to expand the balloon to approximately one foot in diameter.
Shut off the compressed air, close the balloon valve and disconnect the air line. At this point,
the balloon valve should be closed and the other valve should be open allowing the pressure
in the can to be one atmosphere. Take the can your lab station and wait approximately five
to ten minutes for the air in the can to come into thermal equilibrium with its surroundings.

Connect the manometer to the free port, keeping the balloon valve closed. Gently open the
manometer port and check to see if the oil levels in the arms of the manometer change. If the
levels do change, then the air inside the can has not had enough time to come into thermal
equilibrium with its surroundings. (Why do the levels change if the gas in the can is not at
thermal equilibrium?) In that case, remove the stopper and allow more time for thermal
equilibrium to occur. Replace the stopper and repeat this process until the levels do not
change.

Open the balloon valve gently until the difference in the oil levels in the arms of the
manometer is approximately 400 mm. Close the balloon valve. You are now ready to take a
measurement, but wait five minutes for the can to come into thermal equilibrium.

To make a measurement, loosen the stopper without letting out the gas. When it is ready to
pop, read the manometer pressure (Δp1). Since pressures are relative, you only need to
record the difference in the two arms in millimeters. Now pop the cork and replace it as
quickly as possible. The pressure will drop and start to climb back. The manometer cannot
respond fast enough to go to zero. After five or ten minutes the pressure will have come back
to the final value Δp2 . Substitute Δp1 and Δp2 into equation (1) and compute a value for γ .
Repeat the measurement with air two more times, using the balloon to pressurize the can.
Compute an average value for γ for air.
2. Repeat step 1 using either helium or carbon dioxide instead of air. The only differences in
the procedures are as follows.
a. When admitting the gas to the evacuated can, you must use a specific port, the choice of
which depends on the gas that you are using. One of the ports is marked BOTTOM and
the tube goes all the way to the bottom of the can. Use this port to admit CO2; use the
other, which just goes in the top, to admit helium (why?). In either case, the balloon will
need to be shifted to the other port before evacuating the can.

b. To admit the gas to the can after it has been evacuated, use the following procedure.
Attach the supply tube from the gas tank to the appropriate port of the can. Make sure
that the main valve on the top of the gas tank is full open (full counterclockwise). Slowly
screw in the flow screw on the regulator until the proper rate of flow is established.
When the balloon has been inflated to approximately one foot in diameter, close the
balloon valve and unscrew the flow screw until it is loose and gas is no longer coming
out the supply tube. The pressure on the flow pressure gauge should read zero.
Disconnect the supply tube from the can.

c. When connecting the manometer to the can and checking to see if the gas is in thermal
equilibrium with the surroundings, do not remove the stopper if the gas is not in thermal
equilibrium. Instead, disconnect the manometer from the port, wait until you think
equilibrium has been achieved, and then momentarily open the valve on the manometer
port to bring the pressure to one atmosphere. Reconnect the manometer, open the
manometer valve and recheck the pressure in the can. Repeat this process until the oil
levels in the two arms of the manometer do not change. This method will limit the
introduction of air into the can.

3. Repeat step 2 for the remaining gas.

Part II - Ruchardt's Method

4. Before beginning the measurement procedures, a few comments on the system parameters
are needed:

a. The mass of the ball is 16.6 grams.

b. The volume V in equation (2) is the combined volume of the can and the glass tube.
The glass tube has a cross sectional area of 2.01 cm2 . A meterstick is provided to
measure the length of the glass tube. When measuring its length, be sure to include the
part inside the rubber stopper at the bottom of the tube and the part in the teflon sleeve at
the top of the tube. The volume of the tube can be computed from these two pieces of
information.
 c. The pressure p in equation (2) is not atmospheric pressure, although you need the atmo-
spheric pressure to compute p . p is computed using the expression

mg
p = po +
A
where po is the atmospheric pressure, m is the mass of the ball, g is the acceleration of
gravity and A is the cross sectional area of the glass tube. The atmospheric pressure can
be measured using the barometer mounted on the side of one of the chalkboards. Your
TA will show you how to use it. Note that the units of the atmospheric pressure
measured in this way will be mm of Hg. The atmospheric pressure will need to be
converted to units of dynes/cm2 before it can be used in the above equation for p .

Make the necessary measurements and compute V and p .

5. Evacuate the can and fill it with air in the same way that you did in the first paragraph of step
1. Take the can your lab station and wait approximately five to ten minutes for the air in the
can to come into thermal equilibrium with its surroundings.

The precision glass tube used for this part is mounted in a ring stand assembly. Do not
remove the tube from this assembly. Before moving it, make sure that all of the clamps
holding the tube are tight. Carefully place the precision glass tube assembly in the stopper
hole in the top of the can. Make whatever adjustments are necessary to make the tube fit
firmly in the hole and to make the tube vertical. When done making the adjustments, check
to see that all of the clamps holding the tube are still tight, that the magnet is in the top of the
tube and that the ball is resting at the bottom of the tube. If the ball is stuck somewhere in
the middle of the tube, ask your TA to clean the tube.

At this point the balloon valve should be closed and the other valve should be open. Close
the open valve. Open the balloon valve. The overpressure in the balloon will force the ball
up to the top of the tube where the magnet will hold it. When the ball is at the top of the
tube, close the balloon valve and then open the other valve momentarily to drop the can
pressure to one atmosphere. You are now ready to make a measurement.

Lift the magnet off the top of the tube and the ball will drop. Time the bounces for about five
periods. Compute the period of oscillation. Substitute the measured period and the other
needed parameters into equation (2) and compute a value of γ for air. Repeat two or three
times, first opening the balloon valve to drive the ball to the top, placing the magnet back,
relieving the pressure, and then dropping the ball. Compute an average value for γ for air.
Remove the precision glass tube assembly from the can.
6. Evacuate the can and fill it with with CO2 (or He) using the same method as you used in step
2. Be sure to use the proper port (BOTTOM for CO2; the other for He) when filling the can.
Flush out the precision glass tube with the gas to be used by running the gas through it for
approximately thirty seconds. Flush from the bottom if you are using CO2 and flush from the
top if you are using He. Place the glass tubing back into the stopper hole and repeat the
measurements made in step 5 using this new gas.

7. Repeat step 6 for the remaining gas.

Lab Report

You should use the lab notebook format described by your TA in his/her comments at the be-
ginning of the lab session. Your lab report should include the answers to all of the questions
asked in the introduction or procedure, all raw and derived data, and an estimate of the
magnitude and sources of error in any data recorded. When answering any question or when
giving any comparison or explanation, always refer to specific data to support your statements.
For this lab, also include the following:

1. computations of γ for each of the gases for each of the two methods; and

2. a comparison of the experimentally measured values of γ with the theoretically predicted

values given in the theory section of this writeup.
Appendix

By using the first law of thermodynamics, the ideal gas law, and some definitions of specific
heats, it can be shown that, in an adiabatic process, an ideal gas obeys the relation

pV γ = constant

An adiabatic process is one in which no heat is transferred to or from the system - the system in
this case being one mole of an ideal gas. The constant γ will be defined.

The first law states that dU = Q - W . The specific heat at constant volume, Cv = (dQ/dT)v
, is the heat added divided by the temperature change. At constant volume, dV = 0 and
therefore

W = 0 , dU = dQ

and

Cv = dU .
dT v
Since, for an ideal gas, U = (1/2)fRT , where f is the number of degrees of freedom per molcule,

Cv = 1 f R
2
and
dU = Cv dT

This last equation, although it was derived by considering a constant-volume process, is valid for
any process involving an ideal gas. This is so because U depends on temperature only, and dU
is the same for any dT , regardless of what caused the change.

For an adiabatic process, Q = 0 , so

dU = -W = -p dV = Cv dT .

From the ideal gas law,

pV = RT (n= 1), p dV + V dp = R dT

and we have that

R = Cp - Cp .

Combining the above equations yields

 -p dv Cp - Cv
p dV = V dp = .
Cv

Defining the ratio γ = Cp/Cv , and collecting terms, we have

γ p dV + V dp = 0 .

Dividing this equation by pV gives

dp
γ dV + p = 0 .
V

This can be integrated, with the result

ln V γ = -ln p + C .

And finally, if ln pVγ = C , then

pV γ = constant

as advertised.